


A Tale of 5 + 1 Times of Novahd

by ImmortalHKitty



Category: The Creatures | Cow Chop RPF, fake chop - Fandom
Genre: Angst, I'm so sorry guys lmao, Some comfort, also this takes place over the course of creatures era to present day, i've been working on this for ages, this is sad but I hope you guys like it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2018-11-16
Packaged: 2019-08-24 14:02:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16641546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImmortalHKitty/pseuds/ImmortalHKitty
Summary: The 5 times Aleks and James have taken care of each other and the one time it didn't work.





	A Tale of 5 + 1 Times of Novahd

1\. 

It's only been a few weeks since Sly left. While Aleks had become accustomed to James when he first joined the Hub in 2013, he in no way, is used to him being his partner. It was a rough transition to go from Sly, who would try his hardest not to giggle during a heist, to James who was nothing but stone cold during one. Which is why it was a shock to Aleks when James one day let his stoic appearance crumble after a mission. 

“Aleks, will you please let me see your arm?” James asks softly, reaching a hand out towards the younger male.

As a reaction, Aleks instinctively pulls his arm closer to his chest. Somehow someone managed to slice Aleks’ arm with a knife during the haze of the mission. He got away, but the gash may or may not require stitches. All Aleks know is that he's in pain and there is a ton of blood. He had been using a towel they found in the safehouse, but by now it’s more red than the original blue color.

“Aleksandr, I need to look at it.” James tries to keep his voice calm and level, almost as if Aleks is a wild animal. It’s like if James yells at him or grabs his arm himself, Aleks will only flee from their shitty little safe house.

Aleks stays silent. He doesn't necessarily not trust James, it's just that Aleks is used to Sly seeing him like this. Sure, James has seen him on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion and blood loss, but Sly was always the one to take care of him in that moment or once Stefani has patched him up. This is James’ first time caring for an injured Aleks. He’s scared, to say the least, to allow his new partner to take care of him when he's at a disadvantage like this. 

“If you don't let me look at it and take care of it, you'll get an infection. I'm sure you don't want your arm to fall off.” James can see the blood that's staining Aleks’ shirt from where he had the wound pressed against it before he wrapped it in the towel. It needs to be cleaned and bandaged. If it needs stitches, he'll need to call Stef or do it him-fucking-self.

Slowly, Aleks removes his right arm and presents it to James after removing the towel. It's a bloody mess, and James is sure he can see that his injury might 3 or 4 inches long. Once he cleans away the blood it will be easier to see. Aleks lays his arm in his lap, shyly looking at James like he's waiting for an order. Aleks knows James likes to take control of stuff. If he knows what he’s doing in taking care of Aleks, then so be it. For once he won’t open his loud mouth and snap at the older.

“Stay here, I'll be right back.” James then gets up from the couch, which creaks loudly since it’s probably as old as James. He heads into the bathroom, or as James likes to call it “a bathroom that would make better use as a closet”, and pulls out their limited medical supplies. They don't use this place often, but it was the closest safehouse to where they were at the moment. It obviously needs a major upgrade. Still, it has a bottle of rubbing alcohol and some gauze. They don't have any washcloths, so James grabs a few pieces of paper towels so he can use them to wipe the blood away.

James is actually mildly surprised that Aleks is still sitting on the couch when he returns. He half expected him to slip out the door and take care of himself somewhere else. Aleks looks up at the sound of James coming back and his expression shows one of relief. James sits back down, wetting the paper towel with the rubbing alcohol first then gingerly pulling Aleks’ arm over into his lap.

“You already know this is going to hurt like a bitch.” James starts off by slowly wiping the blood around the wound. That doesn't cause Aleks any pain. James folds the paper towel to a clean side before reapplying more rubbing alcohol. Now is the moment of truth as he then, trying to be as light as a feather, wipes at the gash.

Aleks lets out a hiss of breath though his teeth. James can see his jaw clenched tightly against the pain, but Aleks doesn't make any move to rip his arm away. It only takes a minute to clean it up and look at it. Thankfully, it doesn't look that deep now that all the blood is cleaned up, so James then wraps gauze around it, patting it gently when he ties it off.

“We'll hang here for another hour or two and then we'll go back to the hideout and get your arm properly treated,” James says. He gets up so he can throw the paper towel away and replace the other items. As he walks away, he hears a soft “Thank you”.

 

2.

The second time one of them gets injured, it's James. For the two years Aleks and James have been official partners, it's always Aleks who gets scuffed up during heists and shit. That's why when James is the one injured, Aleks doesn’t know how to handle it.

“James, stay awake, okay?” Aleks’ panicked voice cuts through the haze in James’ head. He's trying to stay calm as he cradles his friend's head in his lap, but Aleks just doesn't know what to do other than keep him conscious.

“‘M tryin’,” slurs James, eyes slipping shut. A firm tap on the cheek makes James pry his eyes back open so he can look up at Aleks. All James can remember is hearing an explosion before his body was thrown to the ground and he felt pain all over, especially in his head.

“We’re almost back to the base. Stef is ready to take care of you,” babbles Aleks, repeatedly tapping and patting James’ cheek to keep him awake. They were doing a drop off when they were ambushed by someone throwing a grenade. James had taken the most damage from the blast as he fell and cracked his head off the concrete floor. He totally has a concussion and he also has various cuts over his body from flying debris. Aleks also has his own share of cuts and bruises, but the priority now is James. Spencer is currently speeding back to base.

“You cryin’? Why? Don’t cry.” Though James’ vision is blurring and all he wants to do is sleep, he can hear the sniffles that are coming from Aleks. He knows he’ll be fine. He’s not going to die, for fucks sake. Aleks can be a little too emotional sometimes.

“I’m not,” says Aleks defensively. He can’t wipe his eyes since James will see, so he settles to clear his throat. Aleks thought James was fucking dead when he saw him on the ground after he recovered from the explosion. At first his tears were one of pain and sorrow. Now, they’re out of relief that James wasn't killed and will most likely recover. After Sly left, Aleks isn't sure how he would handle if the only other person he trusts left him too.

“Yeah, you are,” murmurs James. He wants to reach up to wipe the tears, but his whole body feels heavy. James feels bad now. Aleks shouldn't be crying over him. James is supposed to make Aleks happy. He promised that to Sly when he left the crime world. 

“Am not,” Aleks retorts back. He knows James is having trouble forming words and speaking in general, but anything to keep him talking, or at least conscious, is a win.

“Are too.” 

“Am not.”

“Are too.” 

For the rest of the ride. Spencer has to deal with a back and forth of “am not”s and “are too”s. He wants to rip his hair out by the time he gets them back, but his own heart clenches at the sight of Aleks still trying to keep James awake as Jordan carries James to the medical room.

Stefani manages to take care of the cuts James received from debris along with checking his head. She confirms that he has a concussion that’s borderline a severe one, but she’s confident that with strict limitations, James will recover completely. If things happen to get worse she'll have to call the Fakes for their doctor. Still, Aleks is beyond relieved that James is fine. He proceeds to mother hen James the duration of his concussion to make sure he doesn't make it worse.

 

3.

It’s not every day when you come into work only to hear that your best friend has been kidnapped and is currently being held hostage. James knows Aleks can be one of the smartest people in the crew and also the dumbest at the same time. It doesn't take much for his mind to wander elsewhere, causing an obvious lack of awareness to his surroundings. Everyone in the crew at least once in their time in Fake Chop has had to save Aleks from himself. In all honesty, James is surprised this situation hasn’t happened sooner. 

The flash drive was discovered outside their warehouse base by Asher. Of course the random flash drive sitting in front of the gate was suspicious as hell, so he brought it in and viewed it. To his horror, it was a video of Aleks with his arms and legs tied up on the ground. While Aleks hasn't come in yet today, it was no worry to any of them since he has a reputation of coming in whenever he feels like it. An auto tuned voice demands $500,000 for his return at midnight if they meet them in the desert.

The thing is, Asher, Jakob, and Trevor are beyond smart. The idiot who recorded the video had shown a window. These amateurs had an uncovered window were the three of them could easily see the outside world. With their incredible skills, Asher, Jakob, and Trevor managed to pinpoint the building Aleks is located in.

“Here.” Jakob hands over a piece of paper with an address written in it to James. It's been only four hours since they received the flash drive. However, the video looks like it was filmed right before dawn started setting in, which means Aleks was probably nabbed on the way home yesterday.

“You guys sure this is the place?” When Asher told James and the others about the flash drive, James went into a full on rampage. He threw shit everywhere before he calmed down enough to make sure their best guns, sharpest knives, and other deadly weapons were ready to be used.

“He’s in the east side of the building, sixth floor,” Jakob responds. His words make James grin. 

“You guys never cease to amaze me.” James isn't much of a tech guy, so he's always thankful when the three handle that stuff. 

“Just get that idiot back.” 

“Will do. Trev, you comin’?” 

“Heck yeah, dude.” Trevor rolls away from his computer in order to get up. He heads over to where James has pulled out everything he wants to bring. He picks up a gun, instinctively checking it over, before hiding it away.

“Brett, you ready?” While James was in his blind rampage, Brett was the one to work with Asher, Trevor, and Jakob to devise a plan to get Aleks back.

“Of course.” Brett gathers his own choice of weapons. 

“Excellent. I'll drive.” James is already equipped with his weapons, so he strides over to the garage where they keep their cars. He plugs in the address as Brett settles into the passenger seat along with Trevor in the back. As soon as they're ready, James stomps down on the gas and off they go. 

 

“Aleks, you're a fucking idiot you know that, right?” murmurs James as he piggy backs Aleks to the car. 

Everything went great. Since the people, who turns out was a small name gang trying to make it big, didn't expect Fake Chop to come bursting through the doors, it was easy to take them down. Aleks was even alone in the room, so it was easy for Trevor to free him from the ropes. Brett and James were able to take out the six people who tried to return fire. Whoever they didn't kill with their guns were going to die anyway courtesy of the bit of dynamite that Brett threw into the building. It’s what the deserve for harming one of their members. 

“Can you please yell at me when I feel better?” Even though Aleks was only held hostage for less than 24 hours, the crew had taken it upon them to beat him black and blue. Aleks said one of them took a video as his members punched and kicked him. They figured the footage would be sent next to Fake Chop as a way to get them to cough up money. Of course, Aleks is beyond sore from his beatings. He might even have bruised ribs at this rate. With the pain of his ribs and due to feeling light headed since he hadn’t eaten since lunch yesterday, it was almost impossible to walk. James forced him to hop onto his back.

“No, I’m going to yell at you now while this is still fresh.” He continues to walk to the car that they had parked a few blocks away so no one would see them coming. On either side of James walks Brett and Trevor. “What in god’s name were you thinking? Do you really not pay that much attention at all?”

“Listen, I might have gotten into my music too much and I didn’t hear anyone sneak up on me, but look, you guys found me. I knew you would,” Aleks says as he presses his cheek against his friend’s head. James’ hair is down so Aleks can only assume that he had been messing with his hair out of frustration, annoyance, or concern. It’s been a habit of his since James had grown it out.

“We literally can’t leave you by yourself ever,” James mutters. Nothing about Aleks has really changed. In the Hub he was just as dense as he is today. James has been saving Aleks’ ass since they became partners.

“Fine, let me move back in with you again then,” murmurs Aleks who keeps his cheek against James’ head. The people also wouldn’t let him sleep. Now that he knows he’s in safe hands, Aleks can’t help but let his eyes droop. No matter what, Aleks knows his crew will always save him.

 

4.

“You’re sick.”

“What the fuck? No, I’m not.”

“James, I can see you shaking and how clammy your skin looks.” Aleks then breaches James’ personal space to place the back of his hand on his forehead. “I might not be a doctor like Anna, but I can spot a fever when I feel one.”

“I’m fine, Aleksandr,” grits out James as he shakes his head slightly to dislodge the hand on his forehead.

“You need to go home and rest,” Aleks orders, hoping a glare will get his friend to budge. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t.

“I can’t,” James protests. “I have to finish planning out the rest of this heist.”

“Oh, the heist that we are planning to do in a month and still have plenty of time to figure out? That heist?” Aleks knows James likes to finish what he started in one sitting, but working when visibly sick may not be a smart choice.

“Yes, that heist. It’s a big one and everything has to be perfect so no one gets hurt. The sooner we have it planned out the better we’re prepared for it.” James then rubs at his eyes. He glances up at Aleks, who can see that the man is clearly tired. Even his eyes look a bit glossy. 

“We can finish it when you’re feeling better. Look, if you’re making plans while in this state, you’re going to sloppy and make mistakes. In fact, you already did. Here you mention about Brett and I going through this entrance, but you didn’t make a note about having Jakob check for security camera here, here, and here.” Aleks points to the printed out map and at the buildings that are around their heist location.

“I was getting to that,” mutters James, picking up his pencil to mark down what Aleks just mentioned.

“Yeah, sure. You know what you can get to? Going home and getting some sleep.” Aleks is being pushy on purpose. He knows James is as stubborn as a mule, but he knows with constant nagging, Aleks will always come out victorious. He cares about James, and is he doesn’t recover now, he’s going to get worse. 

“I promise I’ll go home once I’m done with this.” Ignoring Aleks, James glances back over what he has already written down and drawn. He mouths a few things to himself, marking something down. From beside him, Aleks huffs a breath.

“No, you’re going home now.” Aleks leans down to snatch the pencil from James’ grip like a selfish toddler.

“Aleksandr.” Usually when James says his full name it’s a shout that could burst eardrums or filled with annoyance. This time, he sounds defeated. 

“Let’s go.” Aleks refuses to place the pencil back down as he turns around and walks over to where James’ desk is. He gathers the few things James has scattered about and places them into the backpack James always brings.

“What are you doing?” Trevor questions, peering over his monitor at seeing Aleks collect his friend’s stuff.

“James is sick, so I’m forcing him to go home.”

Trevor nods his head slowly then says, “Yeah, he’s not looking too good. I wanted to say something, but I didn’t feel like getting my head ripped off.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of him.” Finished with gathering James’ stuff, Aleks walks over to his own desk to pick up his items. He then walks back over to the picnic table where James is still sitting.

“You’re not taking me home,” says James upon noticing Aleks holding his car keys.

“You think I’m gonna let you drive when you look like you’re about to pass out? Yeah, no.”

“What about my car?” protests James.

“What about it? It’s not like it’s going to get stolen, damaged, or towed while it’s here. Besides, I can pick you up tomorrow, or when ever you feel better.”

“But-” James starts, but is instantly cut off by Aleks.

“There is nothing you could say that is a good enough reason for me to let you drive yourself home,” states Aleks bluntly. James and him don’t even live that far away, and affording gas is not an issue at all since Aleks isn’t tight on cash. Maybe James was going to say he’s afraid to puke in his car, but so what? Aleks would rather clean vomit out of his car than have James drive home.

“You don’t have to baby me.” Is the mumbled reply. 

“I’m not babying you, I just care about you and want you to get rest.” That is probably the first and last time Aleks will ever verbally say he cares about James outloud. Neither of them never say the words out loud, but everyone knows the phrase “actions speak louder than words”. At that, James’ posture changes into a more slumped form rather than straight.

“Okay, let’s go,” he then says softly. At finally hearing his friend, Aleks smiles.

 

Upon arriving at James’ house, Aleks watches him like a hawk as he unlocks it and opens the door. Ein instantly jumps at him, but he freebly pushes her down. James sets down his backpack on the table and heads to the cabinet to grab a glass and then fills it with water. He takes a few gulps, wiping his mouth once he’s done.

“Hey, why don’t you get comfortable and I’ll take Ein out so you don’t have to?” Aleks suggests. Receiving a silent nod, he then takes out Ein for a few minutes so she can do her business and release some energy.

Once Aleks comes back in he sees James on the couch covered in a blanket. His water is placed on the coffee table in front of him and he already has Netflix loaded on his tv. For the most part, he looks alright right now. All he has is a really bad cold and he’ll hopefully be like his loud ass self again in a few days. Finally, Aleks is relieved to see that James is properly resting. As he’s taking in James’ position, he sees Ein attempt to jump onto the couch until her owner scoops her up.

“Do you want me to go now? Are you good?” Aleks questions. He knows James is a grown man who can easily take care of himself, but Aleks hates being alone when he’s sick. Maybe James is the same way. In all the years they’ve known each other, he’s never seen his friend this ill.

“You can stay if you want, but don’t complain to me if you get sick from me.”

“No promises.” 

For the rest of the day, they sit on the couch and watch Netflix. If James asks for something, Aleks is more than willing to get up and grab it for him. Even for dinner, Aleks runs out to the nearest convenient store and grabs a few cans of chicken noodle soup and a box of crackers. He, of course, comes back and prepares the food for James all the while insisting that if you’re sick you must eat the soup in order to feel better. At that point, James might have started to regret allowing Aleks to stay just the tiniest bit, but he’s beyond grateful for the younger male taking care of him.

 

5.

“‘I used to do track in high school,’” James mocks Aleks as he supports half his weight. “‘Do you see these legs? They’re runner’s legs.’ Please explain to me how your runner’s legs failed you.”

“Dude, shut up,” groans Aleks. His left arm is slung over James’ shoulders while James’ left hand holds onto his arm and his other arm is wrapped around Aleks’ waist. They had been running away from the police and Aleks tripped over an empty beer bottle and twisted his ankle. 

“You’re fucking lucky those dumbass police officers lost track of us,” James laughs, but keeping his voice quiet just in case. Better to be safe than sorry. They’re currently walking/ limping along some back alleys waiting for things to settle down a bit more before James even makes an attempt to call Jakob to come pick them up.

“I know, but excuse the fuck out of me for tripping over a beer bottle. It’s not like you haven’t tripped before in your entire life.” Aleks knows it’s not a big deal that he tripped, but the pain in his ankle is a bitch. Sure, it’s not the worst pain he’s ever encountered, but it’s throbbing and a spark of pain hits him every time he steps on it.

“I have, but not during a heist and I didn’t fuck up my ankle this bad.” James pauses for a few seconds to take in their surroundings. Nowhere near or far does he hear the wail of sirens, so obviously that is a good sign. “Here, sit for a bit.” James leads Aleks over to a brick wall and helps him sit on the floor.

“This sucks,” mutters Aleks who takes in his now very swollen ankle.

“Don’t worry, you big baby, it will be be better in a few days or weeks. Lindsey will give you ice or some shit.” James then walks to the edge of the opening of the alleyway. Peeking his head out, he observes the people that are casually walking around. He’s not certain for sure in what part of the city they are in, but he sees a pizza shop a little ways down the road and decides to look it up in order to give Jakob a pick up location.

“That means I can’t do anything because you know she won’t let me move,” Aleks protests with a pout. He’s like a small child and needs to be constantly moving or doing something. He can’t go out on heists if he can barely walk, let alone run.

“Then you should have watched where you were running,” retorts James. As he says this he goes into his contacts so he can dial Jakob’s number. 

“Where are you losers at?” Is the response he gets once Jakob answers. 

“Well, we’re currently hiding in an alleyway, but we’re somewhere along South Street. There’s a pizza place on that road. Just park there and we’ll find you.”

“Okay, sounds good.”

“Before you hang up, can you please tell Lindsey that Aleks sprained his ankle as we were trying to get away? Just to make sure we have plenty of ice and bandages.”

“Yeah, see you guys soon.” After that, Jakob hangs up.

“He’s on his way,” says James as he slips his phone into his pocket. He comes over to settle next to Aleks while taking in the sight of his left ankle. It really doesn’t look too pretty and now James can see it’s turning a reddish color.

“Good, I can’t wait to get ice on this thing.” Aleks places his head against the brick wall.

“Maybe you should elevate it for a bit.” James stands back up to search around the alleyway. Next to a dumpster, he finds a recycling bin. Opening it up, he discovers a plastic crate, much to his luck. He’s able to pull it out and walks back over to Aleks.

“Ew, you went dumpster diving for me,” comments Aleks with a slight scrunch of disgust to his face.

“Just put your ankle on the damn thing before I beat you with it,” James threatens. He places the crate down and Aleks does as he was told. It won’t do much, but it’s better than nothing.

 

“He’s here,” James announces some fifteen minutes later after checking his phone that was vibrating in his pocket. “C’mon.” James stands up first so that he can help Aleks up. Once again, James has to support his friend as he limps his way to Jakob’s car. Thankfully, no one pays them any attention as James opens the back door and helps Aleks into in. In a matter of seconds, Jakob is pulling away from the side of the road.

Once they’re back at the warehouse, James, again, helps Aleks walk. He immediately takes him to where they have their medical supplies are set up. Lindsey, having been taught everything by Anna before she left, follows them and examines Aleks’ ankle.

“Yeah, uh, I really am no doctor like Anna was, but according to Google, that sure does look like a sprained ankle.” Lindsey looks up from her phone. Okay, so maybe she doesn’t know everything like Anna did, but Lindsey knows more complicated things like how to treat a stab or gunshot wound. “Let me wrap it and then you can put ice on it. I don’t want to see you put your foot down on the ground until it’s healed. You hear me?”

“Yes, Lindsey,” Aleks mutters, annoyed that he has to hop around on crutches for who knows how long. She digs out the crutches, which were originally Trevor’s when he had done basically the same thing as Aleks did over a year ago. 

“I’ll go get some ice for you,” announces James who had been watching as Lindsey examined Aleks’ ankle. He gets up as she pulls out some ace bandages from a drawer. Once James returns, Aleks’ ankle is neatly wrapped up. Aleks stands up, using the crutches to hop himself over to the couch they have alongside one of the wall. Propping his foot up on the foot rest, he lets out a sigh of relief and drops the crutches down next to him.

“Here.” James gently places the ice pack that he had wrapped in a hand towel onto Aleks’ ankle.

“Thanks, James.” Aleks smiles at him, which is the most positive expression he has seen on the other’s face this entire day. 

“You better stay off that foot or else it won’t get better and Lindsey will kick your ass,” reminds James. Of course he can’t leave with a simple ‘you’re welcome’. Still, his comment makes his friend laugh, which is another good sign.

“Yeah, I know. Hopefully this won’t take forever to heal.” Aleks leans so that he can adjust the ice pack the slightest bit. “Thanks for helping me, by the way.”

“No problem. Shout if you need anything so you don’t have to hop around,” James offers. Aleks nods in response and that allows James to head over to his desk. Some ten minutes later, James hear Aleks calling for him asking him to get his lunch from the fridge.

 

6.

They were never supposed to end like this. Never. The infamous duo Nova and Immortal was never supposed to end this way. Aleks only had two ideas of how they would go out. One of them being both him and James retiring peacefully from the crime world and live off the riches they earned from years of crime, the other one is that Aleks dies. This is not what Aleks had envisioned.  
“James, James, please,” Aleks begs, voice thick with tears. His hands are pressed to the wound in James’ chest. Both hands are covered in blood and it’s almost impossible to keep steady pressure on it from how much Aleks’ whole body is shaking.

There were too many of them. They were surrounded. They 100% underestimated the amount of officers that would be in the building. That underestimation is what caused a bullet to go through James’ chest. Some fucking god must have taken pity of them since Brett was able to take care of the officers and Aleks was able to drag James out to safety and into the back of the getaway van Jakob is driving.

This was never supposed to happen. Not again. Not after Trevor. Trevor was so young. He had his whole world ahead of him, but his fate had been decided the day he agreed to join the crew under Aleks’ persuasion. It hasn’t even been a full year yet since Trevor was killed. Killed by multiple bullet wounds from police officers. The memory of his bloody body is too fresh in Aleks’ mind and it’s almost like he’s seeing Trevor instead of James. He can’t suffer the same fate. Aleks needs him.

“Don’t you fucking die you fucker. If you die who is gonna be here to yell at my dumb ass?” Aleks attempts to laugh, but it sounds like he’s choking instead. All he can focus on is James. Aleks thinks he can vaguely hear Brett yelling stuff to Lindsey on the phone, but James is more important.

“I’m sorry,” James whispers through a wheeze of air. He’s almost on the verge of unconsciousness, but thankfully his eyes are still slits and Aleks is able to see the dark brown of them.

“Don’t be sorry for anything,” says Aleks, attempting to press down harder on the wound. He swears there were old towels in the van somewhere, but no one can find them. “Look, I think I almost stopped the bleeding.” They both know it’s a lie. There’s too much of it. All over both their clothes, Aleks’ hands, the floor of the van.

“You take care,” comes another weak whisper out of James’ mouth. He’s trying his hardest to remain conscious, to push aside the pain coursing through his whole body, to focus solely on Aleks. Aleks grounds him. James would never admit it outloud, but Aleks has always been able to bring him back down to earth when he’s in way over his head.

“The only thing I’m taking care of is you,” mutters Aleks, continuing to press down on the wound. James groans at the action. At this rate from how hard Aleks is pressing down on the wound, his arms are aching. 

“I’m gonna get to see Trev again.” At that sentence, James lets his eyes slip shut for a second. It’s just a second. A second to rest. It’s becoming too hard to even keep his eyes open no matter how hard he tries do so. A hand then comes up to nudge his cheek, he opens his eyes back up to stare at the blurry figure of his best friend.

“You can see Trevor when you die old and gray haired and then he’ll make fun of you for being so old.” Aleks’ heart breaks at the words. Tears slip over the edge and run down his cheeks. James can’t die. Aleks needs him. He full hartley believed that if worse came to worse, Aleks would be in the position James is in. James deserves to live more than Aleks does. Yet, here they are.

“No.” That’s the only thing that’s said. There’s so much commotion going around, but somehow Aleks can only hear James.

“Don’t go, don’t you dare you, you fuck.” Though Aleks’ is crying, there’s anger in his voice. Another one of the people he holds close to his heart can’t leave him. “Brett, how far away are we?” Now, his voice sounds high, panic evident in it.

“Good bye, Aleksandr.” Even though James has finally giving up, he manages to pull the corners of his mouth upwards in the faintest of smiles. He then lets his eyes shut for a final time. Now, it’s okay to rest. It’s okay to embrace the pain. It’s okay to leave, no matter how bad Aleks doesn’t want him to. He knows Aleks is strong. Aleks will run the crew and continue to build it up. Man, James is excited to see Trevor again.

“James, James, no!” Aleks’ voice becomes hysterical as he watches his best friend close his eyes. Under his palms, Aleks feels the shuttering rise of his chest before there’s an exhale, then nothing more.

“No, no, no, no,” Aleks chants through the tears that are streaking his cheeks with wet trails. He immediately reaches for his neck, even though he knows deep down that this is all happening. He places shaking fingers against his jugular, feeling nothing. Maybe his pulse is too faint. Maybe if Aleks tries his wrist…?

“Aleks,” a gentle voice catches said male’s attention. Aleks snaps his head up from his fingers on James’ wrist to meet eyes with Brett. His expression is neutral, only his eyes shine with unshed tears. “He’s gone.”

“He can’t be,” protests Aleks like a child. He knows, though. He knows Brett is right. Aleks felt James exhale his last breath. He checked for his pulse twice and felt absolutely nothing.

“There was nothing you could have done,” Brett says gently. He doesn’t want Aleks to blame himself for James death because he knows the younger will do it. They’re apart of the crime world. No matter how bad they don’t want anyone in the group to be killed, shit happens. They didn’t want Trevor to die, and look what happened. There’s just some things you can’t prevent.

“I should have been shot,” Aleks murmurs, staring at his dead best friend numbly.

“You know James would smack you for those words. You know damn well that he wants you to take care of everything now. He’ll want you to take care of Ein, of his mom.” Even though Brett himself is on the verge of tears, he has to soothe the other and keep up a strong facade. 

“I know, I know.” They both have an unspoken agreement on what to do if on or the other died. In fact, every single one of them in the group has their own wishes to be fulfilled if they somehow died. When Trevor died, they hosted a huge party in remembrance of him. They invited everyone from the other crews to celebrate the life that was Trevor. Despite what the occasion was for, everyone had a great time. It’s exactly what Trevor had wanted.

“We’ll get through this together. It will be rough, especially so soon after Trevor, but we’re a family.” Brett extends his arms out to Aleks. Aleks accepts the silent invite and maneuvers his shaking body into the arms of Brett. He’s always seen Brett as a sort of a father figure, so he finds the embrace comforting.

“You’re right, but I need time.” He burrows his face into Brett’s neck as he cries. Brett holds him, finally allowing his own tears to fall. The last time either of them cried was the day Trevor died. Dealing with the heartbreak and tears isn’t any easier the second time around. They still have to go back and inform the others about what happened. They still need to take care of the body.

“Of course, we’ll all need time. Just always remember that we’re a family.” Brett knows that the squeeze that Aleks gives him around his middle is a silent way of him agreeing with the words. Fake Chop is stronger than what most people believe. Some will think that with the death of a co leader will cause their downfall, but the remaining members will make sure the crew will become as strong as ever. All of it to make James happy.

**Author's Note:**

> I love stories that are the (number) + 1 types so I decided to try it out. I could only think of it ending it in a sad way, but I still hope I did a good job with trying out this type of story. Thank you for reading!


End file.
